Resigning Dan Girardi may prove to be costly

Going into Free Agency the Rangers had two main RFA d-men, named Marc Stall and Dan Girardi. On July 10^th Glenn Sather announced that the Rangers resigned young defenseman Dan Girardi, to a 4yr contract worth $3.3million average salary. It’s been debated over and over again on almost every Ranger based website, whether or not signing Dan Girardi was a good idea. In my opinion, it was a bad signing. I understand that Sather believes in this kid, and really see’s value in him as a player. I respect the fact that he signed him, but when you put Staal and Girardi next to each other, and you have to pick between one of them, who would you pick? I would definitely choose Marc Staal. If Sather seriously wanted a solid shot-blocking and penalty killing d-man, he could’ve easily spent an extra $1million on Anton Volchenkov. The A-train would’ve been a much better signing then Dan Girardi. Not only did the Rangers over pay him, but by paying him so much money it limits what the Rangers could do for the rest of Free Agency (including trying to resign Marc Staal). Now the Rangers are left with a measly $2million. Not much you can do to improve a team with $2million. I know there are a lot of Ranger fans who really like Girardi, and I respect that. So I’m asking you to respect my opinion when I say that Girardi is one of the most overrated players on the team (behind Brandon Dubinsky). Please understand that only some of my hatred towards Girardi is because of what he did to Marian Gaborik last season, but most of it is because I just don’t think he is as good a player as people make him out to be. Yes he can block shots and yes he is a good penalty killer, but there are better options out there and for better prices. Anton Volchenkov, possibly the best shot-blocker in the league, was signed to a 6yr contract at a cap-hit of $4.25million. That’s $1million more then what Dan Girardi is making. Like I said before, if Sather seriously wanted a shot-blocking penalty killer, he could’ve signed the A-train for $1million less. Now with only $2million left, unless they waive a few players to make cap-space, there is very little the Rangers can do to improve this team. I hope Girardi earns what he’s making, because there are many other players out there in Free Agency that would’ve.

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